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Winter 2018 News Briefs

Last updated: 2/14/2018

Toy Safety

Protecting Children From Dangerous Products

We need to protect our youngest consumers from unsafe toys. For more than 30 years, U.S. PIRG Education Fund has worked hard to identify toys that threaten our children, call on manufacturers and regulators to take important actions, and inform parents and caregivers of the dangers that could be in their homes.

Lead In Fidget Spinners

Last fall, our researchers made a particularly alarming discovery when we tested fidget spinners for lead: We found two fidget spinners from Target that had up to 300 times the legal limit for lead in children’s products.

We immediately called on Target to remove the toxic spinners from its website and stores, and spread the word through major media outlets, including CBS and The Washington Post. Within days of releasing our test results, Target removed the two fidget spinners from its shelves.

Now, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Target and the manufacturer Bulls i Toy need to ensure that these two fidget spinners are fully recalled.

32nd Annual Toy Report

In November, U.S. PIRG Education Fund released our 32nd annual Trouble In Toyland report, which found that stores nationwide are still offering dangerous toys and, in some cases, ignoring explicit government safety regulations in the process.

In addition to exposing fidget spinners full of lead, the report found inadequately labeled toys and balloons that pose a choking hazard, and data-collecting toys that may violate children’s privacy and other consumer protection laws. We also provided a list of toys that have been recalled over the past year.

“Our leaders and consumer watchdogs need to do more to protect our youngest consumers from the hazards of unsafe toys. No child should ever be injured, get sick or die from playing with a dangerous toy,” said Dev Gowda, toxics advocate with U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

Toxics

Working To Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

Bees are dying at unprecedented rates, with real consequences for our food supply, environment and economy. We rely on bees to pollinate $15 billion worth of crops every year—everything from almonds to strawberries to the alfalfa used to feed dairy cows.

With support from our members, we’re calling for states across the country to ban bee-killing pesticides like neonicotinoids. If enough states take action, we will eliminate the use of more than 40 percent of insecticides used in this country, giving bees a better chance to survive.

Furthermore, that kind of collective action will be a strong signal to large chemical companies and to the federal government that the public wants to limit the use of bee-killing pesticides.

Consumer Protection

Standing Up For Our Consumer Watchdog

Six years ago, U.S. PIRG helped create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make sure banks and financial companies treat us fairly and play by the rules. Since then, the bureau has returned nearly $12 billion to ripped-off consumers.

Yet President Trump and some in Congress are trying to strip away vital consumer protections, and even eliminate the Consumer Bureau. That’s why we knocked on more than 300,000 doors across the country last summer, mobilizing more than 60,000 citizens to sign our petition to Congress.

In November, when Richard Cordray stepped down as director of the Consumer Bureau and the president named staunch CFPB opponent Mick Mulvaney as acting director, we doubled down on our efforts to ensure the agency stays strong and independent. With support from members like you, we’ll fight tooth and nail to ensure this important agency continues to thrive in the future.

Toxics

Pushing For Toxic Cleanup After Hurricanes

After the hurricanes hit Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico last year, we learned anew that it’s not only the initial storm that threatens life and limb, but also chemical facilities and Superfund sites that are hit.

Our national staff released factsheets to alert residents to the location and dangers associated with these sites, and successfully lobbied the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up a particularly dangerous site in Texas, the San Jacinto Waste Pits.

With your support, we’ll continue to stand with Americans affected by the storms until they have the protections they need to safely recover.